Classical High School - Caduceus Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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station which occupied the ground where the Superior Court House now stands. In 1878 Edward H. Cutler became principal, and upon his resignation in 1881, Dr. William T. Peck succeeded to the office. After his graduation from Brown, Dr. Peck had gone to the Uni- versities of Leipzig and Berlin. While in Europe, he travelled extensively among the ancient ruins of Greece and Rome, cultivating that love for classical antiquity which he con- stantly sought to impart to his students at Classical. He remained in charge of the school until his retirement in 1931, after fifty years of organization and development of his school into a classical institution which he believed should establish in the student a firm founda- tion for life and leadership. Since 1931, his work has been carried on by Mr. Charles E. Paine, the present principal, whose policy has always been directed toward the preparation of the student for college. Of the hundreds of graduates of Classical, many have become famous in numerous fields of endeavor. Among figures prominent in civic life may be included U. S. Senator Theo- dore Francis Green, a graduate of 1883, and Frederick M. Sackett, of the class of 1887, former U. S. Senator from Kentucky, and later Ambassador to Germany. Former Gov- ernor Norman S. Case, now a member of the FCC, graduated from Classical in 1904. James Bennett, director of the Federal Prison Bureau, is also a former Classicalite, Many Classical graduates are now instruc- tors and professors in American universities, among them Professor Sharon Brown of the English Department of Brown University, and his sister, Mrs. Bernice Cronkhite, Dean of the Radcliffe Graduate School, Professor John F. Johnnie Green, for years the most CADUCEUS, 1941 popular professor in the Latin Department of Brown University: and Professor Shulman of Yale Law School. Novelists who have gained prominence in- clude Professor Israel J. Kapstein, of Brown University: and the late Dr. Rudolf Fisher, Negro novelist, short story writer, and phy- sician, author of The Walls of Jericho and many unforgettable short stories which were published by the Atlantic Monthly. Their achievements have accompanied the progress of Classical from its almost informal beginning to its present commanding position in American education. Its development along academic lines has resulted in its having been the first public school in the United States to be awarded a chapter of the Cum Laude So- ciety. In the modern world, Where emphasis has been transferred from cultural to voca- tional education, Classical is unique among schools in its belief that a study of the classi- cal heritage of man is necessary for true edu- cation. In a period when the school molds its curriculum about the careerist and seeks primarily to equip its students for a very specialized field, Classical is again unique. It trains students to found their education on the broad knowledge which comes with a study of classical achievements. Without a general cultural background upon which to build his vocational training, the student's education is empty. Classical, throughout its century of existence, has tried to preserve the cultural tradition of the past. It has always affirmed that progress is possible only when tradition is maintained and society learns from the successes and failures of its ancestors. It has trained its students not simply to achieve personal careers, but to face and solve the broader problems of life.

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